1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the sphere of fluid contacting equipments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Contacting columns provide contact between fluids in order to achieve matter or heat transfers between the fluids. This type of fluid contacting equipment is widely used to carry out distillation, rectification, absorption, heat exchange, extraction, chemical reaction operations, etc.
Contacting columns are generally an enclosure provided with internal contacting elements promoting exchange between the fluids. In general, the column allows intimate contact between an ascending gas phase and a descending liquid phase, or vice versa. In the column, the fluids can circulate in a cocurrent or a countercurrent flow. The contacting elements that increase the contact surface between the fluids can be trays, an ordered packing, that is the juxtaposition of several unitary elements, identical or not, arranged in an ordered manner, such as corrugated sheets for example, or a random packing of anarchic piles of unitary elements of, for example rings or spirals.
EP-0,449,040 describes internal packing elements allowing better control of exchanges between fluids, to push back the fluid circulation block limits while providing increased resistance to chemical aggressions or corrosion.
In the applications of fluid contacting columns, notably, such as, reactive absorption or distillation requiring washing a fluid with an absorbent solution, for example natural gas deacidizing or combustion fumes decarbonation, it is essential to have the best possible contacting elements providing a maximum contact surface while limiting pressure drop in the columns.